Liveblog: ++ Shoigu demands more tanks for Russian troops ++

In the face of Ukraine’s counter-offensive, Russian Defense Minister Shoigu has called for more tanks to be produced. From Russia it is said that an attack on the Druzhba oil pipeline has been repelled. All developments in the live blog.

Four people have been killed in a Russian missile attack in the Kharkiv region, according to Ukrainian sources. The victims are civilians, Governor Oleh Synyehubov said on Telegram. They were in a car on the way to the village of Hurjiv Kozachok near the border, which was under fire from the Russian military. The vehicle was hit by an anti-tank missile. The four occupants were killed on the spot. The information cannot be independently verified at this time.

Russia’s Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu has called for the production of more tanks to meet the “needs of Russian forces” in Ukraine, where a Ukrainian counter-offensive using weapons from the West is underway. Visiting a military factory in the Omsk region of western Siberia, Shoigu stressed the need to “maintain increased production of tanks” and improve the security of armored vehicles, the Russian army said, according to the AFP news agency. The increased production is necessary so that Russian soldiers can carry out the “tasks of the military special operation” – as the Kremlin continues to call the war – in Ukraine.

According to the authorities, Russian air defense repelled a Ukrainian attack on the Druzhba oil pipeline during the night. The governor of the Russian Oblast Bryansk, which borders Ukraine, announced that three Ukrainian military drones had been destroyed. The attack was aimed at a pumping station.

According to the company, drone attacks within Russia have increased in recent weeks. Russia blames Ukraine, which in turn has not yet claimed responsibility for any of the attacks.

According to British intelligence services, Russia has gained an advantage in the airspace over southern Ukraine. This emerges from the latest daily report on the war in Ukraine from the Ministry of Defense in London. The Russians are currently superior in the “constant competition of measures and countermeasures”, particularly in the case of combat helicopters, which could use long-range missiles against targets on the ground.

The report goes on to say: “Since the start of the Ukrainian counter-offensive in southern Ukraine, Russia has increased its attack helicopter forces in the region.” Pictures show that more than 20 additional helicopters have been stationed at Berdyansk Airport, about 100 kilometers behind the front. The Ministry of Defense has published a daily report on the course of the war since the beginning of the war. Moscow accuses London of disinformation.

The Kremlin attaches conditions to the accreditation of journalists working for Western media. The state news agency TASS quoted Presidential spokesman Dmitri Peskov as saying that the decision on admission to large forums in Russia would depend on the “behaviour” of Western media. The International Economic Forum is currently taking place in St. Petersburg. Journalists from countries Russia describes as unfriendly were denied accreditation.

The Ukrainian President Selenskyj is not convinced of a peace initiative by African states. According to President Putin, Russia has sent the first nuclear warheads to Belarus.